Silencer system for a firearm

ABSTRACT

A silencer system for a firearm comprises a jacket tube which is mountable on the barrel of the firearm and in which a first silencer having an axial firing opening is coaxially arranged. The first silencer is arranged in the jacket tube to form an intermediate first annular space and has, at its barrel-side end, an oncoming flow cone which is penetrated by the firing opening and is located at an axial distance from the barrel, in order to deflect gases emerging divergently from the barrel into the annular space, which is provided with baffles and a gas outlet downstream the baffles.

The present invention relates to a silencer system for a firearm, comprising a jacket tube which is mountable on the barrel of the firearm and in which a first silencer having an axial firing opening is coaxially arranged.

Silencers of this type are known, for example, from US 2013/0168181 A1 or US 2014/0231168 A1 and are constructed from a stack of deflector pots. The deflector pots each have a conical oncoming flow base on the barrel side, that is axially penetrated by the firing opening, and—either due to their mutual spacing (US 2013/0168181 A1) or due to apertures in the pot walls (US 2014/0231168 A1)—radial gas passages. The radial gas passages are closed in a pocket-like manner by the surrounding jacket tube so that a sequence of gas collection pockets (“dead ends”) is formed in the firing direction and these progressively reduce the gas pressure escaping from the muzzle in order to damp the bang of the shot. The price for this is a back pressure of gas in the gun caused by the silencer, which in the case of self-loading guns may lead to increased material wear and in the worst-case scenario to destruction of the gun, as well as increased gas pressure from the cartridge ejection window, which enormously impairs the shooter. The powder gases irritate the shooter's eyes and respiratory system, and therefore appropriate protective equipment is required. The known silencer designs also have the disadvantage that, over time, more and more powder residues are deposited in the dead ends of the successive pressure reduction pockets, such that the silencer “fouls” and the damping performance deteriorates increasingly, up to the point where the silencer is completely unusable.

WO 2017/151234 A2 discloses the use of a meandering baffle on the circumference of a radially perforated inner tube with a firing opening in order to avoid dead ends. However, the chamberless design is at the expense of the damping performance.

The objective of the invention is to create a silencer system with improved damping performance, reduced gas back pressure and extended usability.

This objective is achieved with a silencer system for a firearm, comprising a jacket tube which is mountable on the barrel of the firearm and in which a first silencer having an axial firing opening is coaxially arranged, which is distinguished in that the first silencer is arranged in the jacket tube to form an intermediate first annular space and has, at its barrel-side end, an oncoming flow cone which is penetrated by the firing opening and is located at an axial distance from the barrel, in order to deflect gases emerging divergently from the barrel into the annular space, which is provided with baffles and a gas outlet downstream thereof.

The silencer system according to the invention results in a fluidic parallel connection between an inner (“first”) silencer and a further silencer constructed coaxially around it, which is formed by baffles in the first annular space between the first silencer and the surrounding jacket tube. The oncoming flow cone at the barrel-/inlet-side end of the first silencer acts as a distributor for the gases emerging from the muzzle: The gases exiting directly in extension of the barrel axis enter the first silencer through the firing opening of the oncoming flow cone, while the gases diverging from the axis are directed by the oncoming flow cone into the annular space and the baffle silencer located there. The parallel connection of an inner silencer, for example constructed in a chamber design, and a baffle silencer without dead ends reduces the back pressure for the gun and the shooter. The axial distance of the oncoming flow cone from the barrel creates a large-volume pressure reduction chamber in the jacket tube, which on the one hand is the distributor for the parallel connection of the inner first silencer and outer baffle silencer and on the other hand causes a first pressure reduction of the powder gases.

The coaxial arrangement of the inner first silencer and outer baffle silencer results in an extremely compact design of short overall length with high damping performance. At the same time, the gas flow in the outer baffle silencer, free from dead ends, cools the inner first silencer. Since the radially outer part of the powder gas jet no longer enters the inner first silencer, the inner first silencer fouls to a lesser extent, while at the same time the risk of the baffles of the outer silencer being obstructed due to the flow through them is reduced, so that the service life of the entire silencer system is extended compared to conventional designs.

The baffles of the outer silencer constructed in the annular space may be formed in any way known in the art, for example by meandering baffle plates, ribs, wings, etc. In a first preferred embodiment of the invention, the baffles are formed by deflector plates which are arranged one behind the other in the axial direction and offset relative to one another in the circumferential direction, preferably ring sector-shaped deflector plates. This results in a meandering gas flow in the annular space along the first silencer, which combines sufficient pressure reduction with a good flushing and cooling effect.

The inner first silencer may be constructed in any way known in the art, also as a “classic” chamber silencer. In accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the first silencer comprises in particular a stack of deflector pots, each of which has a conical oncoming flow base on the barrel side, which oncoming flow base is axially penetrated by the firing opening. The stack of deflector pots results in a sequence of pressure reduction chambers along the firing opening, each located around the firing opening, to which the outer parts of the pressure wave are diverted.

It is particularly favorable if the oncoming flow bases are each provided with gas passages towards the respective next deflector pot, preferably a ring of axially parallel passage openings. This means that the pressure reduction chambers formed by the deflector pots are no longer dead ends, but are flushed through by a proportion of the compressed gases via the gas passages, which makes it more difficult for powder residues to deposit in the chambers and further increases the service life of the silencer system.

In addition, the first deflector pot of the stack on the barrel side may be provided with radial gas passages towards the annular space. This deflects a further proportion of the powder gas jet into the coaxially outer baffle silencer, further reducing the back pressure and further increasing the cooling effect.

The oncoming flow cone for gas distribution between the inner and outer silencer may be realized in a wide variety of ways. In a first variant, the oncoming flow base of the first deflector pot on the barrel side itself forms the oncoming flow cone, which reduces the number of components required. In an alternative second variant, a separate oncoming flow cone is placed on the first deflector pot on the barrel side, which allows a more acute cone angle to be created for the oncoming flow cone than for the oncoming flow base.

If the inner first silencer is constructed using a stack of deflector pots, it is particularly advantageous if each deflector pot carries one or more of the deflector plates on its outer circumference. This modularizes the design of the silencer system. By selecting the number of deflector pots, each of which carries the deflector plates for the outer baffle silencer in the same way, a wide variety of chamber numbers, overall lengths and thus damping performances may be achieved with a reduced set of components.

The gas outlet of the outer baffle silencer may be designed in various ways. For example, the annular space between the inner first silencer and the jacket tube may simply be open at one end, for example if the silencer in the jacket tube is only supported by the baffles. Preferably, however, the gas outlet of the first annular space may also comprise axially parallel outlet openings in an end ring which closes the annular space at an end facing away from the barrel. The gas back pressure of the baffle silencer may be adjusted by dimensioning the outlet openings in the end ring accordingly. Alternatively or additionally, the gas outlet of the first annular space may also include axially normal outlet openings in the jacket tube. Such axially normal outlet openings do not contribute to the recoil of the gun, which reduces the overall recoil of the gun during firing.

The silencer system of the invention may be mounted on the barrel of the firearm in a wide variety of ways. According to a first embodiment, the jacket tube is equipped with a thread for mounting on the barrel of the firearm, in particular when it is intended for mounting in front of or subsequent to the barrel of the firearm. In this case, the thread of the jacket tube is located at the rear end of the jacket tube.

In an alternative, particularly preferred embodiment, the silencer system according to the invention is designed as an “overbarrel” system, i.e. the barrel is inserted into the silencer system to a certain extent. An annular space resulting between barrel and jacket tube may then be used in a particularly advantageous way to accommodate a second baffle silencer.

For this purpose, a sleeve is preferably accommodated coaxially in the jacket tube to form a second annular space, which sleeve is located at an axial distance from the first silencer, the second annular space likewise being provided with baffles and preferably a gas outlet downstream thereof. The second baffle silencer in the second annular space is also fluidically connected in parallel with the two other silencers, namely the first coaxial inner silencer and the first outer baffle silencer. The deflection of the powder gas flow into the second baffle silencer in the “overbarrel” configuration, i.e. against the firing direction, reduces the recoil of the gun.

The second baffle silencer may also be designed without a gas outlet, if necessary, for example to prevent the escape of gases near the face of the shooter. If desired, however, a gas outlet may also be provided here, in particular in the form of axially normal outlet openings in the jacket tube, in order to achieve a flushing.

Preferably the sleeve may be slid onto the barrel and has a thread at its end facing the first silencer for anchoring to the barrel, so that the “overbarrel” part with the second baffle silencer may swing out freely in relation to the barrel.

However, such a second baffle silencer may also be realized in another way, especially without “overbarrel” mounting. For this purpose, a second silencer is preferably accommodated coaxially in the jacket tube and forming the second annular space, which second silencer is located on the barrel side of the first silencer at an axial distance therefrom, the second annular space likewise being provided with baffles and preferably a gas outlet downstream thereof. In this embodiment, the silencer system of the invention comprises four silencers fluidically connected in parallel with one another, namely the first inner silencer, the first baffle silencer surrounding same, the second silencer arranged upstream and directly adjoining the barrel, and the second baffle silencer surrounding the second silencer. This allows a particularly high damping performance with a particularly low back pressure to be achieved. In this embodiment, too, the part of the gases which is deflected into the second baffle silencer and acts against the firing direction reduces the recoil of the gun.

The second inner silencer may also be formed in any way known in the art. According to a preferred variant of the invention, the second silencer also comprises at least one or more, i.e. a stack of, deflector pots, so that the same components as for the first silencer may be used. This results in a further modularization of the silencer system.

In all embodiments with sleeve or inner second silencer around which the second baffle silencer is formed, the jacket tube may optionally contain a—preferably conical—partition wall having a central opening between the first silencer and the sleeve or between the first and second silencer. The additional partition wall deflects the part of the gases emerging divergently from the barrel directly towards the second baffle silencer. By designing the partition and the size of its central opening accordingly, the gas distribution between the first silencer and the first inner baffle silencer on the one hand and the second baffle silencer on the other hand may be adjusted.

The optional partition wall may also be used to support the sleeve or the second silencer via a radially perforated pipe section to increase mechanical strength.

Such a support may alternatively be achieved also without the partition wall by supporting the sleeve or the second silencer via the radially perforated pipe section directly at the oncoming flow cone of the first silencer.

When using axially normal outlet openings in the jacket tube for the gas outlet of the first and/or second baffle silencer, these outlet openings may be offset relative to the radial in the same circumferential direction. When firing a shot, the recoil of the gases emerging from the outlet openings thus generates a torque about the longitudinal axis of the silencer system which may be used to automatically tighten, with each shot, a thread by which the silencer system is attached to the barrel.

The invention will be explained in greater detail below on the basis of exemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the silencer system of the invention in a longitudinal section;

FIG. 2 shows an inner part of the silencer system of FIG. 1 in a perspective view;

FIG. 3 shows one of the modules of the inner part of FIG. 2 in a perspective view;

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section along the intersection line IV-IV of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 5-8 show further embodiments of the silencer system of the invention, each in a longitudinal section.

FIGS. 1-4 show a first embodiment of a silencer system 1 for mounting on a firearm, of which only the barrel 2 is shown in part. The firearm may be of any type, for example a handgun or a long gun. The longitudinal axis of the silencer system 1, which is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the barrel 2, is denoted by A.

The silencer system 1 comprises a jacket tube 3, which is equipped at one end with a thread 4 for screwing onto a corresponding counter thread at the muzzle of the barrel 2. The thread 4 may, for example, be formed in a threaded bushing 5, which is inserted into an end cap 6 and an end plug 7 of the jacket tube 3.

A first silencer 8 is arranged in the jacket tube 3 at an axial distance d from the barrel 2. The silencer 8 has an axial firing opening 9 for the passage of a projectile exiting the barrel 2. Due to the axial distance d between silencer 8 and barrel 2, a pressure-reducing and distribution chamber 10 is created inside the jacket tube 3 for the gases escaping from the barrel 2 during the firing of a shot, which gases lead ahead of and lag behind the projectile.

The silencer 8, seen in the firing direction S, has a series of pressure-reducing chambers 11-15 along its firing opening 9, in which chambers the pressure wave of the shot gases is successively reduced, as described in more detail later. However, the silencer 8 could not only be constructed as such a chamber silencer, but in principle in any other way known in the art.

The outer circumference 16 of the silencer 8 is at a radial distance from the inner circumference 17 of the jacket tube 3, so that a first annular space 18 is created between them. The annular space 18 is used to accommodate a first “baffle” silencer 19 which lies fluidically in parallel to the first silencer 8. The baffle silencer 19 comprises the annular space 18, baffles 20 arranged therein (see also FIGS. 2 and 3) and a gas outlet downstream of the baffles 20 in respect of flow. In the example shown, the gas outlet is formed by axially parallel outlet openings 21 in an end ring 22 at the end of the jacket tube 3 facing away from the barrel and/or axially normal outlet openings 23 in the jacket tube 3.

The silencer 8 is equipped at its end facing the barrel 2 with an oncoming flow cone 24 penetrated by the firing opening 9. The oncoming flow cone 24 acts as a distributor for the gases emerging from the barrel 2 or the pressure wave in the pressure-reducing chamber 10 by allowing the central part of the gases emerging in axial direction A to enter the firing opening 9 and thus the silencer 8, and by deflecting the outer part of the gases emerging divergently from barrel 2 via its conical surface into the annular chamber 18 and thus the baffle silencer 19. By selecting the size of the firing opening 9 in the oncoming flow cone 24 and the cone angle of the oncoming flow cone 24 accordingly, the division between those gases entering the inner silencer 8 and those gases entering the baffle silencer 19 may be adjusted.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the construction of the silencer 8 and of the baffles 20 in detail. The silencer 8 is constructed from a stack of deflector pots 25, which slightly overlap each other with their edges 26, for example are inserted into each other with a clamped fit, or are bolted or welded. Each deflector pot 25 has a conical oncoming flow base 27 on the barrel side, i.e. projecting against the firing direction S, which oncoming flow base is axially penetrated by the firing opening 9. In the stack, this results in annular pockets 28 (FIG. 1) in the chambers 11-15 of the silencer 8, which annular pockets each run around the firing opening 9 and in which pockets the pressure wave of the gases is buffered and thus successively reduced.

Optionally, the oncoming flow bases 27 may be provided with gas passages 29 towards the next deflector pot 25 in the stack, whereby the pockets 28 are no longer dead ends, but are flushed and cleaned by the gases flowing through the gas passages 29 in order to largely prevent deposits of powder residues in the pockets 28. The gas passages 29 may, for example, be embodied as a ring of axially parallel passage openings.

The oncoming flow cone 24 of the silencer 8 may be placed as a separate component on the first deflection pot 25 on the barrel side (FIGS. 1 and 8), or the oncoming flow base 27 of the first deflection pot 25 on the barrel side itself directly forms the oncoming flow cone 24 (FIGS. 5-7).

Optionally, one or more of the deflector pots 25 may also be provided with radial gas passages 30 towards the annular space 18 of the baffle silencer 19, in particular the first deflector pot 25 on the barrel side, as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 5.

Instead of a modular, stacked construction of the silencer 8 consisting of individual deflector pots 25, the silencer 8 could alternatively also be made of a continuous tube into which the oncoming flow bases 27 are individually inserted; one end of such a tube could then be designed as an oncoming flow cone 24.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, the silencer 8 may also be used to mount the baffles 20 of the baffle silencer 19 in the annular space 18. For this purpose, the silencer 8, for example each deflector pot 25, carries on its outer circumference 16 one or more deflector plates 31, which form the baffles 20. The baffles 31 are for example circular ring sector-shaped (here: each over 60°, are arranged one behind the other in the circumferential direction U, and are offset relative to one another. Other types of baffles 20 are also possible, for example helical, meandering and/or interrupted deflector plates, etc. In the example shown, each deflector pot 25 carries, at a first axial position, a set of three 60° ring sector-shaped deflector plates 31 and—at an axial distance a therefrom—at a second axial position another set of three 60° ring sector-shaped deflector plates 31, which are each offset in the circumferential direction U by 60° with respect to the deflector plates 31 of the first set.

The baffles 20, for example the deflector plates 31, could alternatively also be mounted on the inner circumference 17 of the jacket tube 3, or could be inserted as a separate part into the annular space 18.

FIG. 4 shows that the ejection directions or axes J of outlet openings 23 of the jacket tube 3 running normal to the axis A may each be offset relative to the radial R in (the same) circumferential direction U, i.e. the axes J of the outlet openings 23 each have a normal distance z from the axis A. Gases escaping from the outlet openings 23 thus generate a torque M on the jacket tube 3, which may be used to tighten the thread 4 for anchoring the silencer system 1 to the barrel 2; the silencer system 1 is thus tightened with each shot quasi automatically.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the silencer system 1 for an “overbarrel” mounting on the barrel 2, which opens the possibility for the installation of a second baffle silencer 32. With this embodiment, a sleeve 34 is accommodated in the jacket tube 3 at a radial distance, i.e. forming a second annular space 33, which sleeve is again at an axial distance d from the first silencer 8, in order to establish the distribution and pressure-reducing chamber 10. The pressure-reducing chamber 10 now distributes the shot gases not only to the first silencer 8 and the first baffle silencer 19, but additionally also to the second baffle silencer 32.

The second baffle silencer 32 is equipped with baffles 35 in the annular space 33, for example in the form of deflector plates similar to the deflector plates 31 of the first baffle silencer 19. The second baffle silencer 32 may optionally have a gas outlet downstream of the baffles 35, for example in the form of axially normal outlet openings 36 in the jacket tube 3. The outlet openings 36 may be offset from the radial R as shown for the outlet openings 23 in FIG. 4.

The sleeve 34 may be provided with a thread 37 at its inner end facing the first silencer 8 for screwing onto the barrel 4. The “overbarrel” part 38 of the silencer system 1 slid onto the barrel 2 thus shortens the overall length of the combination of silencer system 1 and firearm. Moreover, the part 38 may swing out freely if the sleeve 34 is dimensioned to have a radial distance to the barrel 2.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the silencer system 1 similar to that of FIG. 5, but with an additional partition wall 39 between the first silencer 8 and the sleeve 34. The partition wall 39 is preferably—although not necessarily—conical, having a conical portion 40 projecting against the firing direction S and a central opening 41. The partition wall 39 diverts the outer part of the pressure wave in the pressure-reducing chamber 10 towards the second baffle silencer 32 and allows the inner part of the pressure wave to pass through its opening 41 towards the first silencer 8 and the first baffle silencer 19. The splitting ratio may be adjusted by appropriate selection of the size of the opening 41 and the cone angle of the cone 40.

The sleeve 34 may be supported on the partition wall 39, as shown by a radially perforated pipe section 42. However, the pipe section 42 may also be omitted, in which case the sleeve 34 ends at a distance in front of the partition wall 39 when viewed in the firing direction S.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, a second coaxially inner silencer 43 is used instead of the sleeve 34 to create the second annular space 33 for the second baffle silencer 32. The second silencer 43 is located—forming the annular chamber 33—at a distance d in front of the first silencer 8, seen in the firing direction S, which again results in the pressure-reducing chamber 10. The second silencer 43 may be a conventional silencer or—as shown in FIG. 7—similarly to the first silencer 8, it may be formed from a stack of deflector pots 25, but installed turned by 180°. In the simplest case, only a single deflector pot 25 may be used here (FIG. 8).

The second silencer 43 may also be supported—as shown in FIG. 6 for the sleeve 34—on the partition wall 39 via the perforated pipe section 42, if desired. A partition wall 39 without pipe section 42 could also be used in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 shows a further embodiment of the silencer system 1 with a first silencer 8, a first baffle silencer 19, a second silencer 43 and a second baffle silencer 32, wherein the second silencer 43 is supported here directly on the oncoming flow cone 24 of the first silencer 8 via the perforated pipe section 42.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments presented, but comprises all variants, modifications and combinations falling within the scope of the accompanying claims. In particular, the features shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 1-4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 may also be combined differently to the silencer system 1. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A silencer system for a firearm, comprising a jacket tube which is mountable on the barrel of the firearm and in which a first silencer having an axial firing opening is coaxially arranged, wherein the first silencer is arranged in the jacket tube to form an intermediate first annular space and has, at a barrel-side end of the first silencer, an oncoming flow cone which is penetrated by the firing opening and is located at an axial distance from the barrel, in order to deflect gases emerging divergently from the barrel into the annular space, which is provided with baffles and a gas outlet downstream the baffles, wherein the first silencer further comprises a stack of deflector pots, each of which has a conical oncoming flow base facing the barrel, which oncoming flow base is axially penetrated by the firing opening, wherein the oncoming flow bases are provided with gas passages towards the respective next deflector pot.
 2. The silencer system according to claim 1, wherein the baffles are formed by deflector plates, which are arranged one behind the other in axial direction and offset relative to one another in circumferential direction.
 3. The silencer system according to claim 1 wherein the gas passages in each case are formed as a ring of axially parallel passage openings.
 4. (canceled)
 5. The silencer system according to claim 1, wherein the first deflector pot of the stack facing the barrel is provided with radial gas passages towards the first annular space.
 6. The silencer system according to claim 1, wherein the oncoming flow base of the first deflector pot facing the barrel forms the oncoming flow cone.
 7. The silencer system according to claim 1, wherein the oncoming flow cone is placed on the first deflector pot facing the barrel.
 8. The silencer system according to claim 1, wherein each deflector pot carries one or more of the deflector plates on an outer circumference of the deflector pot.
 9. The silencer system according to claim 1, wherein the gas outlet of the first annular space comprises axially parallel outlet openings in an end ring which closes the annular space at an end facing away from the barrel.
 10. The silencer system according to claim 1, wherein the gas outlet of the first annular space comprises axially normal outlet openings in the jacket tube.
 11. The silencer system according to claim 1, wherein the jacket tube is equipped with a thread for mounting on the barrel of the firearm.
 12. The silencer system according to claim 1, wherein a sleeve is accommodated coaxially in the jacket tube to form a second annular space, which sleeve is located at an axial distance from the first silencer, the second annular space likewise being provided with baffles.
 13. The silencer system according to claim 12, wherein the sleeve may be slid onto the barrel and has a thread at an end facing the first silencer for anchoring to the barrel.
 14. The silencer system according to claim 1, wherein a second silencer is accommodated coaxially in the jacket tube to form a second annular space, which second silencer is located on the barrel side end of the first silencer at an axial distance therefrom, the second annular space likewise being provided with baffles.
 15. The silencer system according to claim 14, wherein the second silencer comprises at least one deflector pot.
 16. The silencer system according to claim 12, wherein the jacket tube between the first silencer and the sleeve contains a partition wall having a central opening.
 17. The silencer system according to claim 16, wherein the sleeve is supported on the partition wall via a radially perforated pipe section.
 18. The silencer system according to claim 14, wherein the second silencer is supported on the oncoming flow cone of the first silencer via a radially perforated pipe section.
 19. The silencer system according to claim 12, wherein the second annular space is provided with a gas outlet arranged downstream the baffles, wherein the gas outlet of the second annular space comprises axially normal outlet openings in the jacket tube.
 20. The silencer system according to claim 10, wherein the axially normal outlet openings of the jacket tube are offset relative to the radial in the same circumferential direction in each case.
 21. The silencer system according to claim 2, wherein the deflector plates are ring sector-shaped. 